Rainfall throughout most regions of China may lower travellers' spirits in the remainder of the weeklong May Day holiday.

China Meteorological Administration announced yesterday that the interaction of warm and cold currents would bring rainfall to most parts of the country in the next two or three days, but temperatures would not drop dramatically because of the strong warm current.

Heavy rain has been forecasted for southwest, north and northeast China, according to the administration. Parts of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Northwest China's Qinghai Province could be blanketed by heavy snowfall. Thundershowers are expected to hit south and central China.

"The rain belt will continuously move southward and bring rainfall from north to south," said an administration forecaster who would not reveal his name. "Temperatures in the regions it covers will drop by an average of 4 C."

Beijing, which has endured the driest spring season in 13 years, yesterday hailed its first moderate rainfall of the year. The Beijing Meteorological Bureau told China Daily yesterday evening that it had created artificial precipitation to increase the volume of the rainfall to ease the city's drought.

But the bureau forecast said travellers would enjoy fine weather today, as the rain would stop this morning.

The unexpected weather has upset travel plans for some holiday-makers.

"I had to buy a jacket this afternoon because of the temperature drop after the rain," said Liu Xiaojun, a traveller from South China's Guangdong Province visiting in Beijing. "My parents, who are travelling in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, have decided to shorten their stay to avoid the possible heavy rainfall."

The National Holiday Office has estimated that this year's Labour Day holiday will witness a record-breaking level of travel. The office reports the number of travellers this year will definitely exceed that of last year, which amounted to 120 million.

On the first day of this year's holiday, at least 116 main tourist attractions nationwide received 28.9 million visitors, up 17 per cent over the same period of last year, the Beijing News reported.

The tourism income generated from the first day of the seven-day vacation increased by 25 per cent compared to last year, the report said.

Source: China Daily